The two actors costarred in the 1972 sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie and
were married from 1974 to 1989, during which time she used his surname.

During an interview with Today's Matt
Lauer, Baxter says, “I didn’t know I had a choice. I didn’t know I could
go.” Baxter, who came out in 2009 in an interview with The Advocate, writes in Untied that Birney struck her on more than one occasion: "It was so sudden and unexpected, I couldn't tell you which hand hit me, or even how hard. I do recall thinking, 'I'd better not get up because he's going to hit me again.'"